Iivo Nei and Andreas Dueckstein awarded Honorary GM titles

by ChessBase
2/18/2024 – The FIDE Council awarded the title of Honorary Grandmaster to Andreas Dueckstein (Austria) and Iivo Nei (Estonia) for their consistently strong results in the 1950s-70s. Nei was an 8-time Estonian who tied for first with Paul Keres in Beverwijk (later Hoogovens). Dueckstein won the Austrian national championship three times and obtained victories over the likes of Mikhail Botvinnik and Bent Larsen. | Photos: Ron Kroon and Wim van Rossem / Anefo (Dutch National Archives)

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

Press release by FIDE

The FIDE Council awarded the title of Honorary Grandmaster to Andreas Dueckstein (Austria) and Iivo Nei (Estonia) for their consistently strong results in the 1950s-70s. Currently, the FIDE Historic Commission is working on unified criteria for awarding the title of Honorary Grandmaster.

Below are a few words about the awardees, summarizing their careers and achievements.

Ivo Nei

Iivo Nei

Photo: Ingmar Muusikus

Born on 31 October 1931 in Tartu, Estonia, Iivo Nei started playing chess inspired by his great compatriot Paul Keres. At the beginning of his career, Nei made a name for himself, finishing third in a very strong USSR Juniors Championship (Leningrad, 1947) and tying for first with Korchnoi in the same event a year later (Tallinn, 1948).

An eight-time Estonian champion (1951, 1952, 1956, 1960–1962, 1971, and 1974), Iivo won the Baltic Republics Championships in 1961 in Palanga, in 1962 in Tartu, in 1963 in Estonia, and in 1964 in Pärnu.

His major break came in 1964 when he tied for first with Paul Keres in Beverwijk (Hoogovens tournament, later known as Corus and then as Tata Steel) ahead of Portisch, Ivkov, Larsen and Parma. He later achieved solid results in Beverwijk 1966 (5th), Zinnowitz 1966 (4th-6th) and Tallinn 1969 (2nd-3rd).

Still an active player, Iivo Nei productively worked with Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze as an assistant and was notably one of Boris Spassky’s seconds in the 1972 World Championship match. He later coached GM Lembit Oll.

For many years, Iivo Nei served as FIDE representative in Zone 1.7 (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)

A popular author, he penned several books in Estonian and German.

Notable games

Select an entry from the list to switch between games

Andreas Dueckstein

Andreas Dueckstein

Photo: kurier.at

Born on August 2, 1927, in Budapest, Andreas Dueckstein moved to Austria at 22 and quickly became one of the country’s strongest players, winning the national championship thrice (1954, 1956, 1977).

Andreas represented Austria in seven Chess Olympiads from 1956 to 1988, notably taking individual gold in Moscow (1956) and Nice (1974), both times playing on the second board. Following his strong performance in Moscow (1956), he was awarded the IM title.

Regarded as a dangerous attacking player in his prime, Dueckstein scored victories over formidable opponents such as Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik (who was the reigning World Champion at that time), and Bent Larsen.

Over his long and successful chess career, Dueckstein built a good tournament record: 5th at Hastings (1958/59), shared 2nd at Zonal in Berg en Dal (1960), 4th–6th at Vienna (1961), 3rd at Amsterdam IBM (1964), 4th at Palma de Mallorca (1965), 6th-7th in Havre (1977).

Notable games

Select an entry from the list to switch between games


Improve your pieces - a winning system you need to know

In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.


Links


Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.